A documentary by Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas; Wings of Desire) mixes traditional Cuban music with glimpses of urban life in Cuba and provides a portrait of a group of talented elderly Cuban musicians who were nearly forgotten in their own country until an album and this film rejuvenated their careers. Grammy-winning guitarist and composer Ry Cooder, who assembled the group during a 1996 trip to Havana to record the country's traditional music, named the album Buena Vista Social Club after a private club that was a musical mecca in pre-Castro Cuba. The program includes footage from the group's studio performances, a concert in Amsterdam, and their historic 1998 Carnegie Hall performance. Wenders' camera also follows the artists into the hot, dusty streets of their youth and records their touching and often humorous recollections. In the finale, viewers witness the performers' awestruck response to their first visit to New York City.